reading novels from the goodreads’ choice awards, part four

I skipped the best humor category. I wasn't feeling particularly humorous.

  1. Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson
    Nominated for Best Fiction
    3.5/5

Now Is Not the Time to Panic was pure coming-of-age, set in the 90s. It had a really effective and impactful dual timeline, with main character Frankie Budge as a teen and Frankie again as an adult, reflecting on her teenage actions. The novel comes to life when Frankie meets Zeke Brown, a boy spending the summer in her small town to get away from his parents' divorce. From then on, Frankie and Zeke rebel in their own ways and along the way, involve the entire town in a panic; in the second part, an older Frankie is left to deal with the repercussions of her actions as a journalist discovers that she was behind the ordeal.

Though a little bit simplistic at times, I enjoyed the writing style. I believe the readability allowed for the real emotions and depth of the work to come out, saving it from being overshadowed by flowery prose or excessive imagery [though at times, I do love those too]. The writing also did the characters justice, correctly displaying the personalities of both Frankie and Zeke, as well as the more minor characters in the background. Everyone felt like people, and that made even some of the more unbelievable plot points feel real. 

I only have one issue with the novel, but it was a pretty big one [hence the 1.5 star decrease]: the ending. I know almost everyone who writes struggles with endings, but I was genuinely appalled by this one. People who loved the ending may flame me for being unwilling to imagine my own ending, or unimaginative for not being able to predict an obvious conclusion [if there was even an obvious conclusion] but I stand by my sentiment. While the open-ended conclusion can work very well for some books, that can only happen after the core conflict is resolved in a satisfactory way, which, well, did not happen here. I'm not even sure why the second part existed if that was the intended ending, to be honest. I came to the end of the last chapter and was wondering for a good minute whether the online copy I read was damaged. Argue with me if you want, but I wholeheartedly believe that the book ended on a weird note and should have had at least a couple more chapters of reflection, or some kind of plot point that tied the strings up together.

Disregarding the ending, this novel is unique and wonderful and something definitely worth reading. I would recommend Now Is Not the Time to Panic to anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction, slightly absurd plot points, and lighthearted death [not really but also i mean what i said]. 

2. Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
Nominated for Best Poetry
4/5

A poetry collection spanning topics from grief and family to aggressive masculinity, Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong is diverse and innovative in its discussion and style. The intensely descriptive form of writing invites the reader to experience the circumstances alongside Vuong, blurring the boundaries between the work and the reader. While there were some pieces that I believed had one-liners that fell flat, or as a whole did not convey something understandably meaningful, I could nonetheless feel the soul behind the writing and gave it a pass. Some of my favorite poems from the collection include "Old Glory," "Nothing," and "Reasons for Staying." 

I would recommend this to someone who wants an introduction to contemporary poetry or anyone who wants to feel completely jaded for a couple of hours.

[I know this review was short—I don't exactly feel equipped to properly judge poetry when I, one, haven't read as much poetry as prose, and two, write questionable poetry myself.]

3. The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathon Freedland
Nominated for Best History and Biography
5/5

Without a doubt, The Escape Artist is probably one of the most important and heavy books I've read in my entire life. The novel follows Rudolf Vrba as he becomes one of the four people ever to escape Auschwitz, while also touching on his life earlier and his life post-escape. It is written in a narrative format, making Vrba's story all the more personal and sharing the horrors in a very impactful manner. It is clear that Freedland, a journalist, performed research upon research to write such an important story. The Escape Artist is required reading for everyone—learning about Vrba as he saved thousands of those wrongfully oppressed is eye-opening, and serves as a reminder about the anti-semitism that still exists today.

4. Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
Nominated for Best Historical Fiction
4/5

Now, perhaps Black Cake doesn't really count as historical fiction, considering the events narrated in the past are not too long ago and no one is donning the regency era outfits that are so often coupled with the genre. In argument with myself, a large majority of the historical fiction nominees for the Goodreads Choice Award are not set that long ago, and I am merely acting on presumptions that have made me shy away from the genre for so long [I did not know Carrie Soto Is Back counted as historical fiction? I loved that book]. Regardless, while I came into the novel with these preconceived notions in mind, thinking I would not enjoy the novel, I felt the exact opposite.

First of all, the structure of the novel was immaculate. I loved how the headings of the chapter named the most important thing[s] or character[s] of the chapter, and the entire chapter was written with that as the singular focus. It was a pretty unique writing style and definitely one that I want to experience more of in the future. Speaking of writing, the straightforwardness and simplicity of the writing only did the novel favors, making the lessons spread throughout Black Cake and its impact all the more blunt and hard-hitting.

The characters—Benny, Byron, Covey, Pearl, everyone—felt so realistic and it was a joy to read about them and learn something from their lives. It was easy to sympathize and feel for everyone in that entire story as well as feel so connected to the situation at hand. It's really a testament to Wilkerson's writing and imagination for making reading Black Cake such an enjoyable and exhilarating but also emotional experience, something so impressive for this being her debut novel. I'm reading everything she writes in the future. 

My only complaint, and the reason for the four stars instead of five, was that some of the conflicts weren't explored as deeply as I would have liked. It left me wanting more and unfortunately dulled down aspects of the plot as the story went on

Anyone who enjoys Taylor Jenkins Reid should read Black Cake, along with other readers who like learning about the hidden mysteries of a particularly fascinating family. 

I prolonged this series that was supposed to be at most, eight weeks long, to almost three months. If you've read all of the parts, thank you.

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reading novels from the goodreads’ choice awards, part three